Protecting the reefs of India

Last month, the Kings Baton Relay visited India, we wanted to shine a light on the work that our partners ReefWatch Marine Conservation are undertaking to protect India’s marine and coastal ecosystems through restoration, research, outreach, and community engagement. A key focus for Reefwatch are its projects spanning habitat restoration, marine wildlife response, and efforts to address plastic pollution, each contributing to its broader objective of safeguarding ocean health.

The organisation also runs a Marine Megafauna Stranding Response and Veterinary Service in Karnataka and Goa. This programme focuses on attending to live stranded animals such as sea turtles, cetaceans, and seabirds, and providing treatment and rehabilitation when possible. In cases where strandings result in death, ReefWatch’s veterinary team conducts necropsies to understand potential causes and collect data that can aid conservation planning. Over time, these assessments have indicated that interactions with marine debris, including net entanglement and plastic ingestion, are recurring factors in many cases. For species like green sea turtles, feeding patterns in seagrass meadows which often trap floating debris appear to make them particularly susceptible to ingestion of plastics.

These findings informed the development of ReefWatch’s Ghost Net Retrieval Programme in Karnataka. Damaged or discarded fishing nets, commonly referred to as ghost nets, can persist in the marine environment and pose significant risks to wildlife. To reduce this threat, the project works with local fishers, offering an incentive to sell worn-out nets instead of disposing of them at sea. The collected nets are then cleaned, sorted, and stored at processing centres in Kundapura and Honnavara by a team of local women. This system diverts large quantities of potentially harmful material away from the coastline.

To explore new pathways for repurposing the monofilament nets collected through this work, ReefWatch launched an Innovation Challenge for design and engineering students. The challenge invited participants to develop practical, community-level upcycling ideas, complete with prototypes and basic plans for production. The shortlisted teams presented a range of solutions from textile padding to small-scale functional products, demonstrating the potential for creative approaches to difficult-to-recycle materials.

Alongside these focused interventions, ReefWatch conducts beach clean-ups, mobilising volunteers and community members to remove debris from coastal areas. Education and outreach are embedded across all of the organisation’s programmes, targeting schools, fisherfolk, government departments, lifeguards, and partner NGOs. These efforts aim to improve understanding of marine ecosystems and the role local communities can play in their protection.

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The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Royal Commonwealth Society.